In what could be a seismic ruling, the Third Circuit held that Amazon is a legally responsible seller of defective marketplace items, exposing it to potentially enormous liability. This represents the worst loss yet for Amazon over marketplace sales. However,…
* Williams-Sonoma v. Amazon, Case No.18-cv-07548-EDL (N.D. Cal. May 2, 2019): The first theory of infringement – that Amazon set up an unauthorized Williams-Sonoma website – is not plausible. The screenshots included in the complaint and/or attached as exhibits show…
* Grasshopper House LLC v. Clean & Sober Media LLC, 2019 WL 2762936 (C.D. Cal. July 1, 2019). Prof. Tushnet recaps the case. The passages that stood out to me: Lastly, Passages argues for a third mechanism to estimate Cliffside’s…
Copyright * Long v. Dorset, 2019 WL 861424 (N.D. Cal. Feb. 22, 2019). Dorset allegedly locked Long out of his Facebook page. Access was restored in 5 business days. The court says that’s expeditious enough for DMCA notice-and-takedown purposes: Plaintiff’s…
This is one of many lawsuits over defective hoverboards sold by vendors in Amazon’s marketplace. Starting in November 2015, Amazon conducted an investigation into the dangers of hoverboards. On December 11, 2015, Amazon decided the entire category of hoverboards was…
This case involves the heartbreaking suicide of 12 year old Mallory Grossman, driven by offline and online peer bullying that included mean Snapchat messages. (Note: the opinion refers to Mallory as “MG,” but poor redactions reveal her name in the…
Some FOSTA-related links that have accumulated over the past few months: Lucy Kahn, “Against FOSTA/SESTA: One Canary’s Cry From Inside the Coal Mine“ Now that FOSTA/SESTA has been voted into law, I’ve literally seen my advertising platforms disappear before my…
This case involves an allegedly “predatory” adoption. As usual with custody disputes, the facts are heartbreaking. The birth mom agreed to place her unborn baby into adoption, but then changed her mind. The adoption court eventually awarded custody to the…
[Eric’s note: this post has two parts. First, I recap the opinion and its implications. Then, Heather Whitney revisits as a guest blogger with a different perspective.] Part 1: Eric’s Comments This case involves local cable access, but it has…
This is a data breach lawsuit against Facebook. Judge Alsup denies Facebook’s motion to dismiss, although he does find that Facebook’s contract disclaimer (likely) neutralizes numerous contract-based claims. Background: Facebook announced a vulnerability that allowed third parties to obtain “access…